Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank my friend and colleague, Senator Clonan, for letting me take the lead slot. I welcome the Minister of State. I also commend Senator O'Loughlin, former President Mary Robinson and the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Ms Justice Síofra O'Leary, on all the good work they are doing. It is not only our connection with Senator O'Loughlin in the Seanad. If I am not mistaken, Ms O'Leary's father was Captain of the Guard in the Oireachtas back in the day, which is another reason for us to be proud of the good work being done.

We can all take for granted the importance of this report of the high-level reflection group. Needless to say, we are living in changing times and that is very much the context for this summit and, indeed, the report. I will make a few points. In the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, at one level, the expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe would be the only appropriate step. With no victory in sight for either side, however, it must not be unstateable that cool heads need to prevail. I wish that the Council of Europe, itself the fruit of a peace project, to reference the report, would strive now to bring all sides to the peace table. There is no victory for anyone in the continual destruction and tragic loss of life. We have lost our ability to say that and it needs to be part of our conversation.

Somewhere between what some would regard as the moral bankruptcy of our neutral position in the Second World War and total engagement with the western powers lies a possibility that was exemplified in the past by people like Mr. Frank Aiken, that is, that while Ireland is small and willing to state its point of view, it still focuses on seeking the possibility of peace brokering and conversation. That is much healthier than the cheap grace of making regular calls for the expulsion of the Russian Ambassador. We are a small country. We are not military aligned and we should be proud of that. Even while making our views on what Russia is doing and has done to Ukraine eminently clear, we can still play a role that is different from that of major military powers. We should reach for that space and not be ashamed of it. In recent times, the intervention of Ms Sabina Higgins, among others, deserved more welcome than it got, to be frank.

Also in the report and introduction there is mention of the need to avoid democratic backsliding. That word has been used here today. There is mention of the unfortunate backsliding on human rights. There is no doubt that human rights, democracy and the rule of law are closely intertwined. As the report says, if one weakens, so do the others. When we speak of human rights, however, we must speak of universal human rights, not the ones that are claimed or invented by cultural elites. Universal human rights are derived from our nature as persons. Reflection on the evils of the Second World War brought that point home to Europeans. We appear to be making the same mistakes as were made in the past, however, where we establish particular claims that enjoy cultural dominance in this time and place, naming or establishing those claims as rights and not listening to some of the people who would be most affected. On a European level, we have become involved in a form of cultural colonialism or what Pope Francis has called "ideological colonisation", where we seek to impose some western and far from universal values on eastern, independent democratic nations and, indeed, nations in what is called the developing world.That is not acceptable. We need to have a serious rethink about the objective basis for some of what we claim amounts to human rights. We also need to open up the conversation rather than impose a very western point of view colonially.

I would add that our Government, not content with being involved in bringing another EU nation to court, is ,displaying a backsliding of its own in terms of human rights, as evidenced in the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022, which has now passed the Dáil and will shortly come before us. Ultimately, freedom of speech is what guarantees freedom of thought. It is an essential reality in the seeking of truth. It is true that misinformation may occlude truth and make it hard to identify, thus requiring antidotes, but placing limitations on freedom of speech by means of a hate Bill has the power to bury truth altogether. The hate speech elements of the Bill do not take full cognisance of the importance of free expression. They will help create a climate whereby good, ordinary people will be curtailed in their speech and democratic actions, and in the public expression of their views, because they will not be told the limits imposed by an imprecise law that does not even define what it is meant by hate. The Garda describes hate-related incidents as, "Any non-crime incident which is perceived by any person to, in whole or in part, be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on actual or perceived age, disability [etc.]".

Does the Bill represent the future direction of criminal law? Coupled with a new definition of "gender" that has never been discussed in these Houses, who knows where the Bill might lead in terms of the wrongful suppression of people's natural right to engage in the exchange of ideas? We have a strange situation whereby this hate Bill is the talk of the international town square, with Jordan Peterson and individuals as well-known as Elon Musk commenting on our hate legislation but there has hardly been a word about it in our own media. This silencing envisaged by the Bill seems to be what is going on already.

In case anyone wonders what I am talking about, we are backsliding. We need to look at the mote in our own eye just as much as we point to other countries about their falling back in respect of human rights. In the end, democracy must be about more than an imposition of cultural power. In 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights gave a defence of freedom of expression pointing to: "The realization of the right to freedom of expression enables vibrant, multifaceted public interest debate giving voice to different perspectives and viewpoints." Let us learn how to do that again. This dimension of our democratic tradition is wilting away because we seem to have forgotten fundamental human rights. They are fundamental and involve respect for other people's points of view.